The Phillies have faced some tough pitching in the early going | Extra Innings

Alec Bohm got on a charter flight from Atlanta to New York on Sunday night without ever having touched home plate, but he still scored the winning run in the Phillies’ wildly entertaining 7-6 win over the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park.

The victory allowed the Phillies (6-3) to avoid a three-game sweep in Atlanta and pushed their early-season lead in the NL East to two games over the Braves (4-5) and New York Mets (2-3).

“I was called safe — that’s all that matters,” Bohm said after a long replay review in New York upheld the call by home-plate umpire Lance Barrett and infuriated the Braves and their fans. “We were punching each other back and forth. It was a great game. Any time they scored, we answered, and any time they scored, we answered. We just got the last punch in.”

Over in the home clubhouse, the Braves argued that the game was stolen from them by the guys watching the replay of Bohm’s game-winning run.

“We have five different angles on a nationally televised game, and it’s clear that [Bohm’s] foot didn’t touch the plate,” Atlanta pitcher Drew Smyly said. “It’s embarrassing. Why even have replay if you’re not going to overturn that?”

The Phillies will open a four-game series Monday night against the Mets at Citi Field.

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— Bob Brookover (extrainnings@inquirer.com)

» READ MORE: Phillies beat Braves, 7-6, by the length of Alec Bohm’s big toe (maybe)

The Phillies went into their series finale against the Braves on Sunday night tied for the sixth-most strikeouts in baseball at 10.5 per game. They had also struck out 22 times while losing the first two games in Atlanta. Manager Joe Girardi admitted that the high number of whiffs was a concern.

“Obviously, yeah, because when you strike out there’s not much that can happen that is good,” he said. “I have seen a conscious effort by our guys trying to beat the shift more. We haven’t always been successful or laid down a bunt, but guys have tried. But strikeouts are a concern and it’s something that we need to be better at.”

Girardi did make a good point, however, about the difficult degree of pitching the Phillies faced in their first eight games.

“I think part of it has been the starting pitching we’ve seen,” he said. “We’ve seen ones, twos and threes the whole time. That’s just kind of the way the schedule has fallen. But you hope as the season goes on we become more consistent offensively.”

Sunday actually marked the first time this season that the Phillies did not face one of the top three starters for the Braves and Mets, the only two teams they have played Going against lefty Smyly, the Braves’ No. 4 starter, the Phillies scored five times on five hits in five innings and struck out only three times. Rhys Hoskins and Didi Gregorius also homered off Smyly, and Bryce Harper homered in the sixth off reliever Nathan Jones.

In their first series against the Mets last week at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies were likely going to face Taijuan Walker and Joey Lucchesi in the first two games of the series, but New York’s opening three games at Washington had been postponed because of a COVID-19 outbreak among Nationals players. So instead, the Phillies faced the Mets’ top three starters: Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman and David Peterson.

The Phillies are scheduled to face Peterson again Monday night when they open a four-game series against the Mets at Citi Field. Peterson is really a titular No. 3 because the Mets would likely have the injured Carlos Carrasco and Noah Syndergaard slotted ahead of him.

The Phillies roughed up Peterson, a lefty, for six runs on seven hits, including a couple of home runs, when they scored a season-high eight runs last Wednesday. The Phillies will get another look at a No. 4 pitcher when they face the Mets’ Taijuan Walker on Tuesday, but they could end up facing Stroman, New York’s No. 2 starter, Wednesday instead of Lucchesi. Stroman was not scheduled to pitch in the series against the Phillies, but he threw only nine pitches Sunday against Miami before the game was suspended in the top of the first inning because of rain.

The Phillies will face deGrom for the second time this season in the series finale Thursday.

When they return home Friday for their first series against a team other than the Braves or Mets, the Phillies will likely face the St. Louis Cardinals’ Nos. 3, 4 and 5 starters: Carlos Martinez, Daniel Ponce de Leon and John Gant.

» READ MORE: Phillies place Archie Bradley on 10-day injured list, recall JoJo Romero

When should the Phillies start thinking about replacing the platoon of Adam Haseley and Roman Quinn in center field? Not yet, according to Girardi.

Dave Eiland, who worked as Zack Wheeler’s pitching coach with the New York Mets, is starting to see some similarities between the Phillies right-hander and deGrom, the aces of all aces.

Before the Braves took two out of three from the Phillies over the weekend, Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman said he was impressed with the maturation of Wheeler as a pitcher and the improvement of the Phillies bullpen.

Reliever Jose Alvarado made the pitch he wanted and got the result he wanted Saturday night, and the Braves still ended up scoring the winning run in their 5-4 victory.

Winning the series finale with the Braves was huge because the road has been the Phillies’ downfall in recent years.

On the 50th anniversary of the first game at the now-demolished Veterans Stadium, Girardi talked about how AstroTurf surfaces took their toll on players’ bodies.

Tonight: Start of a four-game series at Citi Field with Chase Anderson facing the Mets’ David Peterson, 7:10 p.m.

Tomorrow: Aaron Nola is scheduled to face the Mets’ Taijuan Walker, 7:10 p.m.

Wednesday: Zack Wheeler goes against his former team for the third time in his career, 7:10 p.m.

Thursday: Zach Eflin faces Jacob deGrom in series finale with the Mets, 12:10 p.m.

Friday: Phillies open a three-game series against St. Louis at Citizens Bank Park, 7:05 p.m.

» READ MORE: Phillies manager Joe Girardi saw the damage stadiums like the Vet could do to a player’s career

Seventeen years ago today, the Phillies played their first regular-season game at Citizens Bank Park, losing to the Cincinnati Reds, 4-1. The Phillies managed just six hits, and their only run came on a solo homer by Bobby Abreu in the first inning.

The Phillies drew what was then a franchise-record 3,250,092 fans that season, but were only 42-29 at home. They have eclipsed that attendance mark five times since then, with the record now standing at 3,777,322 during the 2010 season.

Send questions by email or on Twitter @brookob.

Answer: Thanks for the question, John. Like the center-field situation with Haseley and Quinn, I think it’s too soon to start thinking about replacing guys. I think Nola, Wheeler and Eflin will start getting into the seventh inning and beyond as the season progresses, and I think the Phillies would be happy with six innings each time from Matt Moore and Chase Anderson as long as they are a quality six innings.

Moore has had two rough starts, but Anderson’s five-inning effort against the Mets last week was OK. We’ll see how he does Monday night. Regardless, I think Dave Dombrowski will pursue pitching help — starters and relievers — if the Phillies stay in the thick of the playoff race into July.

Answer: Joe, circle May 4 on your calendar because that is when all four of the Phillies’ minor-league affiliates will begin play, and I honestly can’t wait. If you want to go to the first minor-league games since 2019, you will have a full menu of options in our area. The triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs will open at home in Allentown against Rochester, the double-A Reading Fightin Phils will open at home against Erie, and the newly named Jersey Shore BlueClaws will open their first season as a high-A affiliate at home in Lakewood against Hudson Valley. The Clearwater Threshers, who are now a low-A club, will open at home against Lakewood.

Minor-league baseball is fun at a reasonable price and a great place to check out the prospects as they climb the professional baseball ladder.